Floor furnace



May 14, 1940. Q a. F. STEPHENS 2,200,645

FLOOR FURNACE I Fiiecllarc'h i, 1939 I I INVENTbR. lien amw/ffizga/zgm BY 3 a;

ORNEY. v

'ATT Patented May 14, 1-940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR FURNACE Benjamin F. Stephens, Tulsa, Okla. Application March 1, 1939, Serial No. 259,140

2 Claims.

10 under the .dwelling, and in times of heavy rainfall water will accumulate in the hole and put out the burner, unless provision is made for its exclusion.

My present furnace is designed so that the 15 lower portion is sealed to exclude the entrance of water.

A detrimental feature heretofore prevalent in furnaces of this type resides in the fact that when once assembled and installed in position 20 the furnace could not be dismantled for purposes of repair or replacement of parts, except by crawling under the dwelling in which the furnace was installed. 1 One of the important features of my present 25 invention is the provision of a furnace which is so constructed that the heating unit may be bodily lifted out of the surrounding casing through the open upper end of the casing, there: by enabling the unit to be repaired or replaced 30 by a new one and also permitting access to the burners for purposes of repair or replacement.

Other advantageous features of my invention will be readily appreciated as it becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. i'is a transverse sectional view of a furnace embodying my invention taken substantially on w the line 'ii of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional viewon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the heating unit.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, refgg erence character 5 indicates generally a casing of rectangular shape having vertical side walls and a closed bottom 6. The upper ends of the side walls are flanged outwardly, as indicated at I, to overlie the floor 8 or the supports there- 60 for of a dwelling, said floor being provided with an opening through which the casing may be lowered into position where it is suspended, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The casing is provided at one end withan air 56 inlet opening covered by a grill 9 and at its opposite end with an outlet flue i I leading to a stack ,or other disposal means for the products of combustion. The open top of the casing is normally covered by a removable grill l2.

The air inlet opening communicates with a 5 conduit I3 providing a passage for the air which is delivered to the burners for combustion purposes. This conduit extends downwardly along the end wall of the casing and then inwardly where its upwardly opening end is provided with 10 a supporting and sealing seat M for the reception of the lower end of the combustion chamber iii. The fuel supply pipe 20 for the burners ll located in the lower portion of the combustion chamber and the pipe i8 for supplying fuel to the pilot burner l9 are located within the conduit i3. Fuel is supplied to these pipes from any suitable source through a supply pipe 2! and is controlled by suitable valves provided with extension rods 22 by which the valves may be adjusted from above upon removal of the grill l2.

The heating unit for my furnace comprises the combustion chamber i5 before mentioned and aradiator i6- communicating near its upper end with the combustion chamber through a short 25 flue 23. A tubular drum 2% extends upwardly through the radiator for the upward circulation of air being heated, and a baille 25 extends inwardly and downwardly from the flue connection 26, projecting outwardly from the outlet end of the unit. The radiator is equipped with supporting legs 21 which supportthe radiator portion of the unit while the combustion chamber portion thereof is supported upon the air inlet flue I3.

In order to provide a sealed joint between the air inlet flue and the lower end of the combustion chamber, the supporting flanged ring i4 ispreferably equipped with asbestos packing and the combustion chamber is held down against displacement from the ring by spring latches 28 detachably engageable with keepers 28 mounted on the side walls of the combustion chamber.

In assembling the construction thus far described, the outer casing 5 carrying the air inlet conduit l3, the burners, and the fuel supply pipes therefor is first suspended in position from the floor, and the pipe 2i is connected with the gas supply main. The heating unit is then lowered into the casing with the combustion chamber in such proximity to the conduit 13 that the flue connection 26 will slide down inside the casing. When this connection is aligned with the flue Ii the whole unit is moved toward the left, viewing Figs. 1 and 2, to'project the end of the connection 28 into the flue and vertically align the 55 combustion chamber with the supporting ring I. The combustion chamber is then lowered onto the supporting ring and the latches 28 are engaged with the keepers 29 to lock the unit in position. Y A double walled shell 3|, which divides the space between the heating unit and the outer casing into a cold air downward draft flue 32 and a central up-draft flue surrounding the unit, is then lowered into position to be supported by the brackets 33 at one end and the supporting hooks 34 carried by the conduit I3 at the other end. The rear wall of the shell is provided with a slot extending upwardly from its lower edge of sufllcient width to accommodate the flue connection 26 to enable the shell to be lowered into position after the heating unit has been positioned in the casing.

In operation the cold air is drawn from the room through the .grill i2 downwardly around the shell 3! and passes upwardly around the heating unit and through the drum 24, thereby becoming heated for return to the room through the central portion of the grill. Access to the burners for lighting purposes may be had by removing a cap 35 positioned overan opening in the top of the combustion chamber.

Should repair or replacement of the burners or of the heating unit become necessary, access may be obtained thereto without disturbing the outer casing in the following manner:

The grill I2 is first removed, the shell 3| is lifted out, the latches 28 are released, and thereupon the front end of the heating unit is ele'- vated sufilciently to clear the burners N. Then the whole unit is moved toward the right, viewing Figs. 1 and 2, to clear the flue connection 26 from the flue H. The unit is then free to be lifted bodily out of. the casing and such repairs thereto or to the burners as may be necessary can be readily made. Reassembly of the parts within the casing is accomplished by reversing the dismantling steps just described.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a furnace embodying a heating unit which may be removed intact from the easing for repair or replacement purposes, and that the disassembly and reassembly of the parts within the casing may be quickly and easily performed without disturbing the casing or the fuel supply pipes or connections.

The structural details illustrated and described may be varied within considerable limits without departing from the essence of the'invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim: I

l. A floor furnace comprising a casing having vertical side walls and a closed bottom, one of said walls being provided remote from the bottom with an air supply opening, a conduit extending from said opening downwardly within the casing and inwardly along said bottom and provided with an opening through which air is delivered upwardly from the conduit, a seat provided with sealing material surrounding said opening, a combustion chamber supported upon said seat, means for detachably locking said chamber to said seat, burners located in said combustion chamber, fuel supply pipes extending through said conduit and connected with said burners, a heat radiating element connected with i said combustion chamber, said chamber and element being removable from the casing as a unit without disconnecting the fuel supply pipes located in said conduit.

2. A floor furnace comprising a casing having vertical walls and a closed bottom, one of said vertical walls being provided with an air inlet opening remote from said bottom, a conduit extending from said openingdownwardly within the casing and inwardly along the bottom wall, the inner end of said conduit being provided with an upwardly directed opening, a seat surrounding said opening, a heating unit including a combustion chamber having an open lower end sup-- ported upon said seat, means for detachably locking said combustion chamber to said seat, fuel supply pipes extending from end to end of said conduit, burners located in the combustion chamber connected with said fuel supply pipes, and an outlet flue leading from said heating unit, said unit being removable from the casing without disturbance of the means for supplying air and fuel to the combustion chamber.

BENJAMIN F. STEPHENS. 

